Modulación de la percepción biestable: un estudio basado en estimulación multimodal y registros de actividad oculomotora

Abstract

Bistable images can be interpreted in two different ways. The interpretation made by the observer can be related both to the area of the visual stimulus that the observer is looking at, and to exogenous information provided simultaneously with the exposure of the ambiguous image. When a certain perceptual configuration of a visual stimulus of this nature is made, modulating factors associated with observer’s ocular fixations play a role, as well as the modulation that can be exerted by the semantic load coming from another stimulus of different sensory modality presented together with the picture. Consequently, a
problem arises as to whether, in the presence of an audiovisual multimodal stimulation in which the audio has a semantic load associated with the percepts of a bistable image, a semantic modulation actually occurs, and if, additionally, it is possible to recognize an association between the ocular fixations made on
the bistable image and the recognized visual percept. To solve this question, an experimental task was designed in which thirty-five (35) participants observed the bistable image My girlfriend or my mother-inlaw on a fixed 120 Hz. eye-tracker device while listening to tones of voice, one from a young woman, another from an old one, to observe the modulating effect of these vocal tones. Significant differences were found between the durations of the congruent and non-congruent visual percepts and the audio. Evidence was also found regarding the relation between the ocular fixations manifested in the areas of analysis and the reported visual percepts. Additionally, the understanding of the audio was not a factor that affected the visual perceptions consistent with the auditory stimulus. It is concluded that both the ocular fixations and the auditory semantic load are related to the perception of the bistable image.